Hidden Messages
by Eponine4
Summary: Ron's sure that when Hermione told him to ask her out first and not as a last resort, she has a hidden message behind it, and she doesn't really like him, but Harry disagrees and bribes Ron to ask
1. Default Chapter

There's a lot of great things about Hogwarts, I mean, I really do love the place, and my first three years were great, but something really bad happened forth year that sorta spoiled it for me.   
  
The Yule ball.   
  
I mean who in there bloody minds thought up such a load of bollocks? Seriously? First they cancel quidditch, then they make us all go to some sort of dance where seventeen year-old hunch backed, square headed, stupid named, Bulgarians can ask out innocent fourteen year-olds.   
  
Uh, gonna put in here that I didn't go out with this Bulgarian, I do happen, to ahem, be a guy, a STRAIGHT guy. I was talking about my... Friend, best friend, best FEMALE friend. Hermione.   
  
And now after that whole bloody ordeal, they're doing it again. I got a little bloody pink flyer that read:  
  
Valentine Ball,   
Takes place the night of valentines,   
Forth years and up are invited to a night of romantic fun,  
If a younger student is invited by a forth year or up, then they may also attend,  
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah  
  
Well, it didn't actually say "blah, blah, blah," But you get the gist.   
  
So now I sit here on my bed sorting out my Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, wondering how the hell I'm gonna get out of this one.   
  
"Ron, d'you hear about the Valent-" Harry interrupted, pulling the curtains back from my bed.   
  
"Yes, and I'm not going," I said annoyed. Harry made a face.   
  
"Why not? You already have a date." I gaped at him. I had a date? Who? I never asked anyone, and no one ever asked me....  
  
"No I don't," I said utterly confused.   
  
"Ron, don't tell me you already forgot," Harry said rolling his eyes.   
  
"Yeah," Seamus said walking in with Dean, they had both been obviously eavesdropping.   
  
"You haven't forgotten," Dean and Seamus put on these very stuck-up faces and said in high shrill voices, "Ask me first last night, and not as a last resort!"   
  
I hate blushing, it's really not very masculine at all, and everyone takes it to mean that I'm... Smitten. Which I will say I'm most certainly NOT   
  
They all double over in laughter.   
  
"Ha. Ha. You guys know that's not what she meant, she just meant..." I trailed off, I hadn't exactly figured out WHAT she'd meant yet, but I was almost positive it wasn't that she ACTUALLY wanted me to ask her out.   
  
"Oh, seriously Ron, what else could she have meant?" Dean asked. I shrugged.   
  
"You know how girls are, they have little hidden messages in everything," I said feeling very superior in the knowledge of women.   
  
"I don't think that one HAD a hidden message," Harry said seriously.   
  
"Oh, come on Harry, Mione loves hidden messages, besides she wouldn't ever say straight out-...Why are you guys looking at me like that?" I asked nervously. I knew something bad was coming and tried to think back over my words.   
  
'Oh come on Harry,' no nothing in there that would give me that look, 'Mione loves hidden messages-'  
  
"You called her MIONE," Harry said grinning, Dean and Seamus erupted in bloody laughter again. I got that hot feeling in my cheeks again.   
  
"It's just because Hermione is so bloody long, I got tired of saying it all," I sputtered.   
  
"Ron. You. Fancy. Her. Ask .Her. To. The. Ball." Harry said saying each word clearly and slowly.   
  
"Harry. I. Do. Not. And. I. Will. Not. Ask. Her." I replied equally as stubborn. Harry turned then and did something I totally didn't expect. He went to his trunk and pulled out money. A LOT of money.   
  
"Fifty galleons, ask her out and you'll get fifty galleons," Harry said seriously.   
  
Have I ever mentioned that I come from a poor family? And that I've had fifty galleons in my possession at one time about twice in my entire life?   
  
"Fine. It's stupid, she's gonna laugh at me, but I'll do it."   
  
And so that's why right now I'm standing here right outside the library mentally kicking my own arse and wondering why the hell I get so nervous around Mione lately? 


	2. Disclaimer

Disclaimer: NOT MINE! Well, the storyline is a little I guess, but there are so many others like it that yeah that's not really mine either...... So go read my other fic, it has a more unique storyline! 


	3. Something in my eye

Right when I saw the stupid little pink flyers, I knew there was going to be trouble. The last ball hadn't exactly gone smoothly; first off Ron was going with Padma.   
  
It was obvious those two wouldn't get along, Padma is much too.... Stupid for Ron, not of course that Ron is all that smart, well at least not on the surface, but I have this theory that he really is quite intelligent, how else could he think up insults that can sting so much?   
  
And I went with Viktor. That one would've been fine except that Ron kept insisting I was "Fraternizing with the enemy." Which I most certainly was not!   
  
Secretly I wonder if it's really because Harry was competing against Viktor that got to him, or the fact that he was maybe.... Jealous. In any case he wasn't happy and we got into a huge row, bigger then our normal little bickering. And in the end I did something REALLY stupid.   
  
I told him to ask me out first next time, and not as a last resort. But in my anger, it sounded more like a demand then a request, and Ron really hates being ordered around. I don't think he took it serious anyways, so it really doesn't matter.   
  
"Hermione....Hermione!" Oh my word.   
  
"Hi Ron," I say in this voice that squeaks. Why am I ALWAYS thinking about Ron right before he decides to appear? ...... Maybe because I'm ALWAYS thinking about Ron.......   
  
"Um, I wanted to ask you something," He says in a slightly nervous voice. Help in potions? No helped him with that this morning. Charms? No that I helped him with last night, Defense against the dark arts? No he's good at that.......   
  
"Well, what is it?" I ask curiously.   
  
"Did you hear about the Valentine ball?" He asks. Oh great, probably coming to bug me about Viktor.   
  
"Yes, and no I'm not inviting Viktor, especially seeing as he's busy playing quidditch in Bulgaria. In fact, I don't think I'm going at all," I snap quickly. He looks slightly surprised at my outburst.   
  
"Oh, your not? Why not?" He asks. Ok, I know I said I thought he was really smart, but seriously, how daft can you be?   
  
"Uh, well, I didn't end up having a good time last year," I say giving him this Because-Of-You-You-Great-Bloody-Prat look.   
  
"Well, you may have a better time this year," He says, "If you, erm, come with me."   
  
What? Was that a-a request? Did he just ask me to the valentine ball? He's kidding, tormenting me, does he have any idea how much I actually DO want him to ask me? And now he's making it into a big joke.   
  
"Ha. Ha. Very funny," I say trying to the trembling out of my throat. I'm not gonna cry right in the middle of the library, over some stupid guy. He forces a smile, obviously seeing that I don't find his little joke funny.   
  
"Um, actually, I'm serious," He says squeezing his eyes shut.   
  
He's serious? Like he actually DOES want to take ME out?   
  
"Ron that's really not funny," I say coldly, I turn my head so that my hair swings over the side of my face, so he can't see the tears forming in my eyes.   
  
"Uh, so you don't want to go then?" He asks slowly. Is he really serious? Is he actually asking me. Is this not a joke? I know I can't answer, I can already feel a sob rising in my throat. "I mean, last year, you told me to ask you, so, I thought I'd give it a try... I guess you didn't REALLY, mean for me to ask, right? It was one of those, hidden meanings you girls have," He mumbles the last part and I whip my head around to look him straight in the face.   
  
"So then, your serious, you really want to go with me? I mean, I really, uh, I did want you to, erm, ask, uh-" He was looking at me strangely with his head cocked to one side.   
  
"Um, yeah, I'm serious... But, your, um, crying," Ron muttered. I put my hands over my face. I am such an idiot. Oh my word. Someone shoot me.   
  
"I have something in my eye," I say. I know not the best excuse, but it was the best I could come up with at the moment.   
  
"Here," Ron says putting one hand under my chin and tilting it up, "Now look up," I do as I'm told, even though I know there's nothing in my eye. "Now blink," He says I do. He runs his finger lightly underneath my eye brushing my eyelashes.   
  
I'm staring directly into the misty blue eyes, I can't seem to convince my eyes to look away. My face feels hot, and my stomach is swirling.   
  
"Well... I should, uh, go," Ron says taking his other hand away from where he had let it rest on my shoulder, and letting his eyes drop to his feet.   
  
"Yeah, ok." I say sitting back down.   
Did that really just happen?   
  
Oh. My. Word.  
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hey thanks for the reviews I've gotten, bribery does rule, lol! More to come. 


	4. Doubts, Questions, Tackling

I realize that I'm staring into her deep velvety eyes and getting that annoying feeling in my stomach again, must get away.   
  
"Well......I should, uh, go," I say letting my hand fall form her shoulder where I had set it and my eyes drop to the ground.   
  
"Yeah, ok," She says sitting back in her chair. And ducking her head back over her heavy book. I start walking away, getting this awful urge to look back at her over my shoulder, I do just before I step out the door and she's watching me, I turn away quickly, face bright red.   
  
"And she said...?" Harry coaxed when I stepped through the portrait hole, Dean, Seamus and now Neville too, were waiting for me.   
  
"Erm, she thought I was joking, but in the end said yes. Probably to be nice," I muttered trying to get the red out of my face. They all exchanged these looks.   
  
"Right Ron, just to be nice, or just because she has it bad for you," Seamus said grinning. I glared at him.   
  
"We're just friends," I insisted.   
  
"Sure," They all said at the same time. I scowled.   
  
"No hidden messages then?" Harry asked.   
  
"I-...I dunno," I muttered dodging Dean who was standing in front of the boy's dormitories and going into them, slamming the door behind me.   
  
She said yes.   
  
She said yes and I was overwhelmingly happy. What does that mean? Does that mean I... FANCY her? Or maybe we're just going as friends, I didn't exactly ask. What if that's what she meant? What if she thought that's what I meant? I opened the door back up and headed for the portrait hole again.   
  
"Where you going mate?" Harry asked.   
  
"I've gotta talk to Mio- Hermione," I said not looking back at Harry for fear he'd have that look on his face again and I'd turn red.   
  
She wasn't in the library when I went back there. I wandered around the grounds for a while thinking about everything and looking for her.   
  
She had been crying, said there was something in her eye. I thought back to the look on her face, she looked angry. Maybe annoyed that I had asked her first and not someone that she wanted to go with. Maybe she thought I was stupid...   
  
She obviously didn't want to go with me... There was nothing in her eye that I saw. She was mad, maybe that I was the only one that asked at all. That someone so much stupider then her, and not very good at anything was all she could ever hope for...   
  
"Ron?" Hermione's voice asked behind me. I turned around realizing for the first time that I was outside.   
  
"Uh, hi," I muttered dejectedly.   
  
"What's wrong?" She asked. I shrugged.   
  
"Look, Mione, if you don't want to-" I started.  
  
"What?" She interrupted. I gave her a questioning look, "What did you just call me?" She elaborated I blushed. I'd forgotten not to use that nickname with other people.   
  
"Uh, I just thought Hermione is kinda long, so I made up a nickname..." I trailed off staring at my shoes.   
  
"You are so lazy," She said laughing. "Hermione was to much work to say?" I looked up, she was grinning. I shrugged grinning also. How can she do that? Change my mood in two seconds? With just a smile.   
  
"Well, I also thought it was kinda..." I searched for the right word.   
  
"What? Cute?" Hermione asked. I nodded. "Oh great next thing, you'll be going all soft on me," I felt my face heat up slightly, was I going soft on her? "What ever happened to insufferably annoying, tough, Romance-hating Ron Weasley?" She joked.   
  
"Are you calling me a, a, Gentleman?" I asked in mock anger.   
  
"If the shoe fits," Hermione joked. I shot off chasing after her, she turned with her wand and shouted "Non Firmus!" Which seemed to make me go in slow motion. I followed her al the way back into the castle and up to the gryffindor common room, Finally remembering the counter charm and letting me go normal speed, about halfway up to the common room.   
  
I tackled her both of us falling onto of the couches in front of the fire, both laughing insanely.   
  
"Take it back!" I shouted at her pinning her underneath me with my knees,  
  
"Get off of me!" She shouted jokingly.   
  
"Take it back first!" I shouted   
  
"Ok, ok, your Not a gentleman," She said laughing, I rolled off of her sitting on the end of the couch and ignoring the looks we were getting from the other inhabitants of the Gryffindor common room.   
  
"So anyways, what was it that you were saying out side? If I don't want to... What?" She asked.   
  
I'd forgotten about that. I was going to tell her she didn't have to go to the ball with me if she didn't want to... But now, now I was thinking that maybe I DID really want to go with her.   
  
"Well, I was just, uh, wondering, if we were, um, going to the Valentine Ball, as um, friends... Or..." I broke off staring at the fire in front of us. Hermione followed in suit lowering her voice as I had so that the nosy students couldn't hear.   
  
"Oh. Well, I guess I didn't think about that... What do you want to go as?" She asked. I could tell she was looking at me. Damn.   
  
What do you want to go as? Was that really a question or another of those hidden message deals? If I answered wrong would she get mad? Or maybe it wasn't one of those hidden message deals, maybe she really hadn't thought about it, and wanted my serious opinion.... But that didn't seem likely, Hermione thought about EVERYTHING.   
  
"I guess um, friends," I said slowly. Watching her reaction.   
  
"Ok," She said. Her expression was blank, I couldn't read it, I hate it when she does that. Makes her expression unreadable. 


	5. Why did I ask him that?

Disclaimer: me own anything.... HA!   
"What do you want to go as?" The question pops out of my mouth before I can really think about it. What will he say? WHAT WILL HE SAY? I try not to look as though I care too much..... I do but he doesn't need to know that.   
  
"I guess, um friends?" He says it like a question even though I know he means it as a statement. Friends. Why does this always have to happen to me? I finally get asked by someone whom I think I... May, like and he just wants to be.... Friends. Sometimes I REALLY hate that word.   
  
"Ok," I say trying to look nonchalant. I wonder if it's working, but can't risk looking him in the eye to find out.   
  
"Ok," He says in that uncomfortable way people talk when they want to leave but don't know how to do it without looking rude.   
  
"Well, I gotta go... Study," I said stupidly, not knowing what else to say. You'd think the top student in all of Hogwarts would be able to think up better excuses, but when I get around CERTAIN people...   
  
"Yeah, ok," He says. I can tell he wants to get away from me and the awkwardness around us really bad, because he's not mocking me about the studying bit like he does normally.   
  
Why did I ever give myself the pleasure of thinking that just maybe he was asking me because he LIKED me? Why did I ever even TELL him to ask me?   
  
"So, I here you and Ron Weasley are officially-" Lavender linked her index fingers together. I roll my eyes at her, Can't I have one second after I walk into a room to prepare myself for people like her?   
  
"We're going to the ball as FRIENDS," I said giving her a look.   
  
"If I were you," She started, (thank God she's not) "I would make my move, or get him to make his move quick, because from what I here, there's quite a few girl's that wanna-"   
  
"Lavender, I'm not making any moves on him, because he just made it very clear that we are FRIENDS, not anything more... Besides, I don't even have any moves, and I seriously doubt if HE has any either," I spouted off. She stared at me with that, Yeah-Right-Like-I'm-Gonna-Believe-That look on her face.   
  
"So HE made it clear you two were nothing more then friends?" She asked in an almost innocent voice.   
  
"Not that I asked, I mean, it was more of a WE decided, thing," I stuttered. She looked unconvinced.   
  
"Why would you decide that you two were only friends if you like hi-"   
  
"I don't like him like that," I broke in. Sometimes I can stand Lavender and all her giggling gossipy-ness but other times, when I have a lot on my mind... I turned around and left straight out the door and straight into-  
  
"Uh, hi Hermione," Harry stuttered.   
  
"Hi, were you uh... Listening?" I asked suspiciously motioning to the door that I had just shut.   
  
"No," He said a bit too quickly, "I just wanted to come talk to you."   
  
"About what?"   
  
"Uh, well, Ron told me, I mean, that you two were, uh, going to the Valentine ball together," He said looking a bit uncomfortable.   
  
"Yeah, as FRIENDS," I said and then as an afterthought: "Does EVERYONE know?" Harry grinned.   
  
"Just about," He said I rolled my eyes getting this picture of Ron telling everyone how I practically begged him to take me so he did it out of pity. I started to feel angry.   
  
Why had I done it? "Ask me out first next time and not as a last resort!" why had I said that?   
  
"Oh," I said stupidly.   
  
"So, did he ask you if you wanted to go as FRIENDS?" He asked trying very hard to sound as if he didn't really care.   
  
"Um, well, sorta, why?" I asked.   
  
"No reason," He muttered.   
  
"Yeah well, I gotta go, uh, meet Neville, promised to help him with potions," I lied running past him and out the portrait hole. Several younger students were just coming in as I was going out and I'm pretty sure I heard something about: "That girl's the one with Ron Weasley..."   
  
Some people are so nosy.   
  
I ended up going back outside, even though it's January and there's still snow everywhere. I like the snow, some reason. 


	6. It Was a Hidden Message Or Was It?

Disclaimer: sadly, I own nothing....  
  
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Harry looked REALLY angry as he neared me.   
  
"What?" I asked before he got there. He gave me this really cynical look.   
  
"You weren't supposed to ask her if she wanted to go as FRIENDS," He said in this really loud whisper that I was sure everyone else in the Gryffindor common room could hear.   
  
"Look, I asked, that was the deal," I stated bluntly.   
  
"Well, she didn't seem happy about it, going as friends I mean," Harry said as if dangling something I wanted to have over my head.   
  
"What?" I asked a bit too quickly. He shrugged giving me this knowing look, he started walking away, I jumped up going after him and grabbing his arm.   
  
"She just seemed a little put out when she mentioned it was just as FRIENDS," Harry said giving me another knowing look.   
  
"So you think maybe she wanted to go as..." Harry nodded answering my un-asked question. I started up to the girl's dorm.   
  
"She's not in there, she said she had to help Neville with something," Harry called after me.   
  
"Thanks mate," I muttered before running towards the portrait hall.   
  
"Whipped," Harry muttered grinning. Slyly. I shot him a glare, which changed into a sheepish smile.   
  
  
"Neville, where's Hermione?" I asked seeing him in the corridor leading to the library. He shrugged.   
  
"I dunno, why?" He asked getting a grin identical to Harry's Whipped-Grin.   
  
"I just wondered, and since she was helping you with something I figured-"  
  
"She wasn't helping me with anything today, she helped me with charms yesterday but-"   
I was too far out of earshot to here the rest since I started running off to look for Hermione right when I heard that he didn't know where she was. I looked up and down the most common used corridors, and into her favorite classrooms and reading spots.   
  
"Where is she?" I muttered to myself. I had to find her before tomorrow night. I wandered into yet another empty classroom, out of breath and walked over to the open window that was letting in gusts of cold air.   
  
A brown haired person was walking around out there, without a coat or anything.   
  
"Stupid person," I mumbled to myself, thinking of how Hermione always made Harry and I put on extra shirts underneath our quidditch uniforms for the early morning and late night practices. "You don't want to catch colds do you?" She would always ask. I stared at the person as she wrapped her arms around her, her brown slightly bushy hair flying all over the place.   
  
"Hermione?" I asked myself.   
  
It was certainly cold outside; I was halfway around the castle when I finally saw her. Red cheeks and nose watery eyes, due to the icy wind.   
  
"What do you think your doing?" I called to her. She didn't answer. Just walked towards me.   
  
"I, uh forgot my cloak," She said not looking me in the eye.   
  
"And forgot that you didn't need to help Neville with anything?" I asked slyly. She looked up at me sheepishly.   
  
"Uh, yeah." She mumbled. I reached up to wipe a strand of hair from her eyes. Her skin was icy.   
  
"How long have you been out here?" I asked.   
  
"Uh, about a half hour, maybe a bit longer," She answered. I yanked off my jumper remembering what my mother had said about how girls liked it when boys gave them their coats. I handed it to her and she put it on with trembling hands. I grabbed her freezing hands in mine after she had it on and started walking with her back towards the entrance.   
  
"Trying to get sick so you won't have to go to the ball with me ay?" I joked looking down at her.  
  
"No, actually... Um, when you asked me, did you just ask me because... Well, because of what I said last year?" She asked looking at her feet.   
  
"Well, sorta," I muttered thinking of the bet I had made with Harry.   
  
"Oh," she said in a dejected voice.   
  
"Why?" I asked.   
  
"Well, I mean, Ron, if you don't WANT to go with me, you don't have to," She said biting her lower lip.   
  
I swallowed hard. Maybe Harry had been wrong, maybe she was put out because I had asked at all.   
  
"Oh. Well, it's tomorrow, so I doubt I could find anyone else to go with," I muttered lamely.   
  
"Ok," She said slowly, looking off into the distance and away from me. Her shoulders were shivering in the cold wind. I looked at my feet.   
  
She didn't want to go with me at all. Damn it. I knew it was a bloody hidden message. I'm gonna kill Harry.   
  
Once we were inside the castle she wrenched her hands away from mine and muttered something about studying. I went into the great hall, Harry was sitting with the other guys and they were all grinning that same grin.   
  
"So we saw you and Hermione outside," Seamus said smoothly. I scowled at him.   
  
"She doesn't want to go with me," I muttered miserably.   
  
"What?" they all asked in unison.   
  
I hate my life.   
  
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Aww, poor ronniekins. Little does he know, why Hermione asked that question. More to come soon! Until then go read my other fics, if you like slightly fluffy fics, then read Tears of War, if you like angst, then read The Monster in Me, and if you like the Mediator series by Jenny Carroll then read Angels.  
  
And don't forget to REVIEW!!!!!!! 


	7. Picking a Fight With Scrambled Eggs

Disclaimer: sadly, I own nothing....  
  
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"Oh. Well, it's tomorrow, so I doubt I could find anyone else to go with." His words still echo in my ears just like they did all last night. There still they're this morning. Valentines day is today. I'm really starting to hate Valentines Day because:  
  
1. I accidentally forced a guy who obviously doesn't want to go with me, into asking me.   
2. Schools canceled  
3. It's really cold in England in January and I've gotten a bit of a soar throat from being outside for so long yesterday.   
  
Everyone seemed annoyingly happy at breakfast, except of course Ron who avoided looking at me throughout breakfast and, well, me. Harry was smiling real wide when I got there and Ginny was blushing and Ron was making that Somebody-Shoot-Me face he makes whenever Harry and Ginny get into one of their flirtatious moods.   
  
"Morning Mione," Harry said shooting Ron a look. I rolled my eyes.   
  
"So now you've become so lazy that they can't say my full name, too Harry?" I tried to joke.   
  
"Well, it's kinda catchy," Harry, said and then in an undertone, "Especially when someone's talking about MIONE all night." He was staring at Ron and I wondered what Ron had been saying about me. Probably complaining about how he got stuck going to the ball with a bloody bookworm.   
  
Ron elbowed Harry and Harry gave him a mock-questioning look. It made me angry. If he didn't want to go he shouldn't have asked, and he didn't have to complain about me to the whole bloody world. I looked down at my breakfast, glaring at it.   
  
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked. I shook my head still glaring at my food-piled plate.   
  
"Nothing," I mumbled.   
  
"You look like your trying to pick a fight with your scrambled eggs," Harry said smirking.   
  
"I'm not hungry," I said getting up and sniffling, stupid cold weather.   
I was up in my dormitory for about an hour before Parvati came up to get some lipgloss.   
  
"So you're just going to stay up here and sulk all day?" She asked after I had explained my basic problem of going to the Valentine ball with someone who didn't like me like that.   
  
"No, I'm just tired is all," I lied. She gave me a Yeah-Right look before asking:   
  
"So, who are you going with anyways?" This surprised me, I sort of thought everyone knew.   
  
"No one, just some guy," I mumbled.   
  
"Oh really? I sorta thought Ron Weasley might ask you seeing as you had that whole little 'thing' last year." I gave her a look.   
  
"What thing?" I asked.   
  
"Well, you know 'next time ask me first and not as a last resort!'" She mimicked. I blushed slightly.   
  
"Well, for your information, he did ask me, and that IS who I'm going with," I stated figuring I should tell her now instead of showing up with Ron and giving her the opportunity to embarrass me.   
  
"What?" she asked rhetorically, "But Hermione, he does like you, like THAT. I mean, it's kind of obvious," She said in her best know-it-all voice, I wondered momentarily if that's what I sounded like before letting what she had just said sink in.   
  
"No, he doesn't, believe me," I said miserably.   
  
"How do you know?" She asked.   
  
"I, I, don't want to talk about it," I muttered pulling the curtains around my bed shut.   
  
"Fine," Parvati muttered, annoyed, before leaving. I laid in my bed thinking and yes, maybe even sulking a little for a while, every once in a while reading bits and pieces of school textbooks, in a failed attempt to get something done in all this wasted time.   
  
In the end I ended up rereading all the letters I'd ever gotten form Ron trying to figure out if maybe in them, he somehow accidentally hinted at where she stood in there friendship.   
  
I had been so sure that he had like me at least a little when he had acted so jealous over the whole Viktor Krum thing. But now...   
  
Hermione,  
Summer's actually getting kinda boring, I miss you and Harry. So I was wondering if you guys could maybe come over again for part of the summer like you guys have before. Harry already said to come pick him up as soon as possible, so we'll probably get him tomorrow, if you can come then owl me back, but do it soon because Ginny is driving me mad with all her bloody talking about how I get friends over and she doesn't. maybe she forgot that she hardly Has any friends. (I know what your thinking right now, your mentally going, "Ron you should be nice to Ginny," Well, you don't know how annoying she is) Anyways, I figure if you come that will count as her friend too, so I won't have to put up with mental little fourteen year olds all summer, well, other then you since your birthday's not until September, but you don't count.   
If you don't owl me in the next twenty-four hours I'll assume you went to stay with Vicky, where he'll probably try to kill you or make you a deatheater or something and in that case I'll assume that I won't be seeing you again until your funeral, at which I will first say "I told you so," To your dead body and then go kill Vicky to avenge you.   
So write back soon!  
  
Love, from,   
  
Ron  
I glared at the letter. Why do men have to be so confusing, like everything can seem one way but in the end it's totally different because they have so many stupid hidden messages in everything they do.   
  
I was quiet through most of lunch eating a bit more then I normally do, due to the lack of breakfast.   
  
"Want to come up and get ready with us?" Ginny asked me after lunch, I shrugged.   
  
"Sure."   
  
"It sure takes girls a long time to get ready, the ball's not for four and a half hours," Harry said shaking his head.   
  
"Well you want us to look nice don't you?" Ginny asked giving Harry one of those looks that today made me feel a bit annoyed. I glanced at Ron to see how he responded to Ginny's comment. He had been looking at me, but looked away quickly when our eyes met, it made my stomach flip over, was he looking at me in a fond way or glaring at me?   
  
I had gotten new robes since the previous year due to getting a little thinner and very slightly taller, not to mention changing in other places. They were red dress robes. Whine red form fitting robes that cut down lower in the front then any other shirt I've ever worn. The tan line because of it looked slightly odd, even with it being winter, it was obvious that some of the skin had never before seen the light of day.   
  
"Sexy," Lavender said when she saw them, my face turned red and I crossed my arms over my chest trying to hid the fact that it cut down so low.   
  
"God Hermione," Ginny mumbled.   
  
"Does it look that bad?" I asked self-consciously.   
  
"No, it looks good," Ginny said reassuringly. "My brother's gonna freak," She said grinning. I hoped so.   
  
I didn't wear much make-up, just some red lipstick and mascara that the others insisted I wear. Along with a plain golden chain. My hair I let hang free all over my shoulders making it smooth with Sleek-easy's hair potion.   
  
I was the first one ready but the last one ready to go out. I was more nervous then I've ever been in my entire life.   
  
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The end of yet another chapter of annoyingness, on the part of Ron and Hermione who are too blind to realize what they feel about each other.   
More soon... Hopefully :)   
  
Please review! I live on them literally.   
  
And if you have any spare time, I have a couple other fics that are pretty good, not to be shallow and promote myself or anything ;) 


	8. Achoo

Disclaimer: sadly, I own nothing....  
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I was the last one waiting, all the other guys and there dates said they'd meet us down in the great hall, including Harry who had somehow kept it secret form me that he was going with none other then my baby sister. I was going to go kill him right then and there (ok, maybe not kill, but at least fatally injure) When I saw her coming down that staircase.   
  
Right now I'd just like to say one word. WOW. I mean, who would've thought that anyone could look so... Perfect? I mean I always found Hermione, quite pretty in that rare way, where you knew she was pretty but you couldn't figure out why, because she didn't have any of the regular things people considered pretty, like being tall and stick thin, (which is good for a girl, but not for a guy, I should know) She also didn't have the latest style clothing, or know how to put on make-up, but she was always... Nice looking.   
  
But now, well, I was having trouble talking.   
  
"Y-y-y-ou, a, woah, I mean, good. Red, yes, you look quite red today, I mean, in a good way, because uh..." I bumbled on like that for about three minutes before she stopped me by doing something so Hermione-like that all the tension seemed to disappear completely.   
  
She sneezed.   
  
"Bless you," I muttered.   
  
"Thanks," She said crossing her arms as if to shield herself from my eyes. "You look nice," She muttered. The one bloody thing I had wanted to say and she got it out on her first try, life is so not fair.   
  
"You do to," I said scanning over her for about the thousandth time since she first appeared. She opened her mouth and started to say something that sounded like "Really?" But came out:   
  
"ReallyCHOO!"   
  
"Hermione, how long did you stay outside?" I asked as sniffled and rubbed her eyes. She shrugged.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because, I think your sick," I answered putting my hand on her forehead like my mother always did to me when she thought I was coming down with something. Melting cauldron, hot.   
  
"Ron, I'm not sic- AH AH ACHOO!" Her whole body sort of shook when she sneezed.   
  
"You are too," I said in what was probably the most responsible voice I've ever used.   
  
"Ok, but you can still go to the ball without me," She said wiping her eyes.   
  
"What, trying to get rid of me?" I joked. She shook her head.   
  
"It's just, you bought now dress robes and everything for it and..."   
  
"Hermione, I seriously doubt anyone will miss a set of blue dress robes too much," I said forcing her to sit down.   
  
"Ron, really, I don't want to ruin-"   
  
"Hermione, to tell you the truth, I think I'd rather just stay here with you," I broke in sitting next to her and trying not to let myself stare at her too much.   
  
"Why?" She asked. I gaped at her.   
  
"Well, I didn't have the greatest time last year," I said as if it were quite obvious.   
  
"But, you could this year-"   
  
"Oh, right, it would end up with you begging me to dance, me insisting on not so I won't embarrass myself by stepping all over your feet, and then you getting asked by every guy there and his brother, to dance, eventually you will get so bored with me that you'll go off with one of them and I'll end up sitting there watching and feeling inferior," I spouted. Hermione shook her head.   
  
"That's not true. For one, I WOULD get you out on the dance floor. Two, I'm sure your not that bad at dancing. Three, I doubt anyone would ask me to dance, and Four, I never get bored when I'm with you." Hermione replied getting a matter-of-fact tone. I shook my head.   
  
"You live in a rich fantasy life," I muttered grinning, "Getting ME to dance? Come on."   
  
"Well, look at what you said, everyone and his brother asking ME, bookworm Hermione Granger to dance, not likely Ron," I looked at the ground realizing I had been staring at her again.   
  
"Why isn't it likely? You're good at dancing, nice to everyone, and you look really nice... Lots of people would ask you to dance," I muttered feeling my face get red. She shrugged and it got quiet. "Um, I'm getting... Hungry, I'll go down to the kitchens and get us something to eat," I said trying desperately to get away from the awkward silence I always see to create when around Hermione.   
  
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked as I walked through the great hall, to get to the corridor that leads to the kitchen.   
  
"Sick," I answered.   
  
"Sick? Are you serious?" I nodded.   
  
"It's ok though, we're going to stay up in the Gryffindor common room," I told him trying to look pleased. I knew though, that it was going to be a very hard night. Talking to a girl all night that only said she'd come with me in the first place to be nice. And to get worse... I was starting to think I wanted to go with her a bit more then I had thought originally.   
  
"Well, have fun," Harry said sympathetically. I nodded. Walking towards the door leading to the corridor that leads to the kitchens.   
  
"Hey Ron, will you dance with me?" Some girl I had never met before asked.   
  
"Uh, I would, but I'm a bit busy right now," I lied. Wondering who she was. The house elves were filing out of the kitchen holding platters of food as I got to the entrance to the kitchen.   
  
"Harry potter's friend Mr. Ronald Wheezy," Doby said grinning. "How can I help you Mr. Ronald Wheezy?" Ron smiled.   
  
"Hermione's sick," Doby's face turned to one of sorrow, "Could you get us some chicken soup?" Doby grinned again nodding vigorously and running into the kitchen, holding a large silver platter, with two large bowls of chicken soup, rolls, cups of tea, and icy pumpkin juice.   
  
She grinned when I came back with the tray; she was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, all stretched out in those red dress robes. I had to look up at the ceiling to keep from well.... You know.   
  
"Doby," I explained she nodded grinning.   
  
"But Ron, I still feel bad about you not-"   
  
"Hermione, don't feel bad for me, I feel bad enough for myself most of the time to make up for everyone else." I said loudly. She rolled her eyes. I set the tray in between us. It felt incredibly strange, like I had somehow made this into a date or something, it made me nervous, both of us all dressed up and no one else to keep it from being a "date"   
  
"This really is nice of you, you know," Hermione said after a second. I shrugged. "No, really, it is, I'm probably going to bore you all night, and you could be out with Harry partying."   
  
"I already told you Mione, I'm not much for Balls-"   
  
"Well, if you would actually TRY dancing you'd probably like them," Hermione said taking a sip of tea.   
  
"I don't like dancing," I muttered.   
  
"Ron, you've NEVER danced before, how do you even know?" Hermione argued,   
  
"Because-" She sneezed, "Because, I just know I won't like it even if I try it," I said lamely. Pretty girls really do make me dumber.   
  
"You're just being pigheaded and close minded," Hermione said in that uppity way she does when she knows she's right.   
  
"I am not!" I argued, knowing she was right.   
  
"Then try it with me," She demanded. Damn it.   
  
"Mione-"   
  
"Please, for me," She begged. How can you say no to someone that looks like THAT?   
  
"Fine, but only because your sick and I feel bad for you," I said she pulled me up and positioned me.   
  
"Hermione aren't we missing music?" I asked. She shrugged.   
  
"I don't have a CD player." She muttered.   
  
"Do you have a wand?" I asked sarcastically. She grinned sheepishly. "You really must be sick." She flicked her wand doing a incantation, music slowly started singing from her wand.   
  
"What's this?" I asked.   
  
"Come What May, it's from a muggle play," Hermione said. I shrugged, she grabbed my hands and repositioned them so that they were around her waist, her arms were around my head.   
  
"Ok, now what," I asked looking up to try and distract myself from the fact that I was currently pressed up against a young witch scantily clad in red silk.   
  
"Well, looking at me, would help," Hermione said matter-of-factly. I tipped my head down, finding myself staring straight into her eyes. She turned her head. "Well, you don't have to look at me like THAT," She said swallowing hard.   
  
"Sorry," I squeaked.   
  
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Well, well, well, thank you everyone for all the reviews, I'm trying to read some of my reviewer's stories too, so you see, review for me, I'll review for you :)   
And if anyone's interested, I just got a new fic up, "Syrupy Summer" which is pretty fluffy and in need of reviews! 


	9. Ron Was Right! Or Was he?

Disclaimer: sadly, I own nothing....  
  
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"Sorry," He said in this high voice. Looking just above my eyes.   
  
~Never knew I could feel like this  
Like I've never seen the sky before  
I want to vanish inside your kiss~ Sang from my wand, which was now currently laying   
on the couch, we had seconds before been sitting on.   
  
"What kind of song IS this Hermione?" He asked in an amused way. I blushed embarrassedly. Why had I played a LOVE song? I am really very stupid sometimes I swear.   
  
"It was just the first song that came to mind," I said defensively. His eyebrows raised in that way that they always do when he's thinking something inappropriate, which, consequently, is probably completely appropriate to what was going on in my mind at that second.  
  
I showed him how to do the steps and he followed gingerly as if afraid that I was leading him into some sort of trap. We continued through the steps for a while. It was hard and not very enjoyable I'll say, because for one, I've never been that close to Ron before, not counting that time he tackled me on the couch, and this was a totally different mood. Then we were laughing and joking, but this... This was different. Not to mention that I kept hearing an awful voice inside my head telling me that he's only here with you because he couldn't get a better date.   
  
~Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day~  
  
"So, why exactly did THIS song come to mind?" Ron asked amusedly. I felt my face heat up.   
  
"Not because of whatever your thinking in that twisted mind of yours," I said looking up at him sharply. He grinned at me in a way that said "Liar, you know you want me!" which was exactly what that little annoying voice in my head said too.   
  
"Hey, a guy can dream," He joked I ducked my head so he wouldn't see how red my face was. Even when he is joking he gets to me. Damn.   
  
"Actually, I just had it stuck in my head," I mumbled into the navy blue material of his dress robes, that's how close we were!   
  
"Oh, I see, thinking about that special someone and kept humming little love songs 'till one got stuck there?" It was strange the way he said it, like it was meant to be a joke but he couldn't quite say it without sounding kinda... Angry.   
  
"Which special someone might that be?" I asked.   
  
"Oh come on Hermione, there's got to be some guy you have your eye on, that's what fifteen year-old girls DO isn't it?" He asked that bitterness still there. It annoyed me, that bitterness in his voice, like he was prosecuting me.   
  
"Oh so you finally figured out that I'm a girl?" I asked matching the bitterness in his tone. He pushed me back away from him and stared at me with this crazy look on his face, like he was insanely mad but didn't want me to know.   
  
  
~Storm clouds may gather  
And stars may collide  
But I love you until the end of time~  
"Is that some sort of sick joke?" He asked through clenched teeth.   
  
"Does it seem funny to you?" I muttered sharply. He let go of my arms turning and pacing around in a circle quickly before coming back face to face with me.   
  
"So that's what this was all about then?" He asked his voice and face serious now.   
  
"What?" I shouted "What are you talking about Ron? That's what, what is all about?"   
  
"Don't play dumb with me Hermione, I've figured it out, I've figured out your stupid hidden messages!" Ron shouted grinning in that insane way again.   
  
"What hidden messages Ron? what are you talking about?!?"   
  
"Forgotten now have we? Now that I've figured out your little mind games, you decide to deny them? TYPICAL! That's just too BLOODY typical!" He was beginning to sound a bit hysterical and it was getting tiring, especially since I didn't understand what he was talking about.   
  
"Don't curse," I murmured on impulse. He glared at me.   
  
"So I'm right then, just admit it, you wanted me to ask you to the ball so that you could prove you're a girl, so you could get me all... aroused-"   
I couldn't believe he said that. AROUSED? I hate to say it, I really do but my eyes instinctively looked low, before I realized that through thick robes... there was nothing visible...  
  
"-Just to laugh in my face and tell me you never liked me like that anyways, and that I'm just a stupid boy!" I gawked at him.   
  
"That's not true!" I shouted.   
  
"Come on Hermione, stop denying it! First the skanky robes, and then pretending to be sick so we would have to stay up here all alone... pressed up against... each other..."   
  
"I didn't pretend anything," I said trying to sound angry, but the end of 'anything' came out as a sob.   
  
"You were just using me! Just to prove how stupid I am! Just to prove that even if you don't ALWAYS look like one you can be as much of a slut as Lavender and Parvati! Well I didn't fall for it Hermione, I didn't this time!"  
  
"But Ron-" I whimpered breathing in that hard gasping way you do just before you start crying.   
  
"I didn't even want to go with you! I only asked because Harry PAYED me to do it!" He glared at me in a malicious and triumphant way.   
  
Harry PAYED him to do it. Payed him. He was BRIBED to ask me. He really thinks I'm a... Slut.   
  
I ran up to the girl's dormitory just as the last few lines of the song sang out from my wand:   
  
~Oh, come what may, come what may  
I will love you, I will love you  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place~   
  
I hate crying, I really do, it makes me feel like I've lost. I'm not really very competitive except when it comes to Ron.   
  
He never even wanted to go with me.   
  
Makes me wonder why I even started liking him in the first place. You can't like someone you constantly fight with. It doesn't work.   
  
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Well, you can't really have a Ron/Hermione fic without at least ONE row, now can you? Yes Ron is stupid, but guys (no offense to any who are so generously reading my story, and even more generously reviewing... hint hint) normally are when it comes to stuff like this.... I should know. Man he really is sticking to that "hidden Message" thingy.   
  
Anyways, thank you my reviewers! If you have nothing better to do then checking out my other fics is a good idea! :) I've got like.... Five, no six.... I dunno, I've got a few others! 


	10. Confusingness

Disclaimer: sadly, I own nothing....  
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I finally beat Hermione's stupid mind games and she gets up and runs crying to her dorm. Girls are confusing. I almost felt bad, like maybe I was wrong, and maybe I should go apologize and maybe that feeling I get in the pit of my stomach when I look at her is more then just well, then just a feeling in the pit of my stomach.  
  
I decided to go down to the ball, maybe find that girl that had asked me to dance or something. I almost turned back a couple times, getting this awful feeling that I'd made a huge mistake, but then the feeling of pride and triumph took over and I kept going to the Great hall.   
  
"What are you doing down here? I thought you were staying up with Hermione tonight," Ginny said. I looked suspiciously at Harry who seemed to be much too close to her; he scooted away instantly, also moving his hand from her thigh... ahem...   
  
"I was going to, but she um, well, we had this little... thing-"   
  
"You got into a fight?" It was really more of a statement of a question. I glared at Harry.   
  
"Well, yes, but it was NOT my fault this time-"   
  
"What did you say to her?" Harry asked in this incredibly exasperated sort of way, like this happened every bloody day or something, which it really didn't- er, doesn't, more like twice a week... ok maybe three times a week.   
  
"Well, for one you were wrong about her REALLY wanting to go with me. It WAS a bloody hidden message thing; she was just trying to prove that she was a girl by wearing these red skimpy robes and making me all... Interested," I explained matter-of-factly. "She was just trying to prove how bloody superior she is compared to me, so I told her I had figured her out and, well, she got a bloody girl-ish on me, which now that I think of it, may have been part of the plan-"   
  
"Ron, you're an idiot." Ginny muttered plain as ever.   
  
"Well, excuse me, what is it, make Ron look stupid day?" I asked dripping with sarcasm.   
  
"Is it so hard for you to imagine that just maybe Hermione actually liked you? That maybe Hermione just wanted to go with you because she likes spending time with you?" Ginny was starting to sound like some sort of guidance counselor and it was making me uncomfortable. I had won, I had figured her out! Why did everyone just suppose I was wrong?   
  
"Because girls like that don't like guys like me," I said evenly. Harry and Ginny exchanged glances. "Stop doing that! She doesn't like me! Stop looking at each other like you know something I don't!" I exploded, mostly because I was getting really sick at the idea of Harry and my little sister.   
  
"Ron be quiet," Harry hissed, that was when I noticed everyone was staring at me. I swallowed hard.   
  
"Maybe you should just go and apologize," Harry added. I scowled at him.   
  
"Apologize to her?" I hissed, "She's the one that should apologize! She was trying to make me look stupid, she was using her female-ness to, to... well... I'm not apologizing!" I shouted in a hoarse whisper. Ginny rolled her eyes.   
  
"Did you even ask her, if she liked you, like that? Hermione doesn't lie Ron, she'd tell you," Ginny said trying not to get angry with me, like I was a little kid or something.   
  
"Well, no, but I know she doesn't, I mean, she was even trying to get out of going with me-"   
  
"Maybe because she knew you'd make up some bullshit assumption, like this," Ginny spat. I gaped at her.   
  
"Don't curse Ginny," I scolded, realizing I sounded very much like Hermione.   
  
"Why would someone intent on tricking you into looking stupid, offer not to go with you? It would ruin her so called plan," Harry said logically. I scowled at him.   
  
"I don't know. Girls are confusing!" I shouted. I got looks from all directions again I glared at the nosy people.   
  
"Or maybe we're a lot less confusing then your making us out to be," Ginny said matter-of-factly.   
  
"I'm not apologizing," I said stubbornly. They exchanged looks again, and got these little secret grins.   
  
"You like her don't you?" Harry asked. I felt my face heat up.   
  
"No," I muttered too quickly.   
  
"Then ask her, if you don't like her what would it matter?" Ginny put in.   
"Because it would be embarrassing for both of us-"   
  
"So your too embarrassed? Because you know she wasn't trying to trick you and you don't want to face her."   
  
Sometimes I really hate Harry.   
  
"I'm not doing it," I was feeling a little sick, this was not going the way I had planned, I had expected them to be as angry at Hermione as I was and be on my side.   
  
"Then I'm not talking to you," Harry said quickly.   
  
"Why not?" I sputtered.   
  
"Because I don't talk to people who accuse my friends of things they didn't do," He muttered, taking Ginny by the hand and leading her onto the dance floor.   
  
Damnit.   
  
"Hermione!" I shouted at the foot of the steps to the girl's dormitory. No answer. "I'm coming in whether you say I can or not, I just want to make sure, your, you know, dressed," I informed her. Still no answer. I nervously walked the steps and opened the door peaking my head in. I very angry looking Hermione was sitting facing the door on her bed.   
  
"I wanted to ask you something," I started slowly.   
  
"What? If you're a jerk? I guess the answer to that one's a yes," She snapped.   
  
"A real question," I said slowly.   
  
"I don't want to talk right now Ron, please go away," She said turning around so that her back was to me. It really amazes me how cool she can stay when she's angry.   
  
"I will, but Harry and Ginny won't talk to me unless I ask you this question," I told her seriously. She was quiet, I took that as an invitation to ask, knowing I wouldn't get any better invitation.   
  
"I was wondering, um, well, do youlikeme? I mean, well, like, likelikemeyouknow?" I stuttered. She was quiet.   
  
"Hermione?"   
  
"How could you ask me that?" She said in this shaky voice.   
  
"Well, they said they wouldn't talk to me unless-"   
  
"Ron you called me a slut, you said I was trying to make you look stupid, you said that the only reason you asked me to the ball was because Harry bribed you," She broke in shakily.   
  
"I know, and I'm sorry about the uh, slut thing, but seriously Hermione, why else would you come to a ball with me?" I asked matter-of-factly.   
  
"Maybe because you're my friend, and I thought it would be fun," She said glancing at me over her shoulder. "You wanted to go as friends." She reminded me.   
  
"Oh," I muttered feeling dumb. "If, well, if I had asked you to go as... more then friends... What would you have said?"   
  
"I would have said 'what have you done with Ron Weasley?'" She said sarcastically. I grimaced.   
  
"So then that's a no?" I asked slowly.   
  
"Ron," She started turning and looking at me coldly, "We can't be like this. We can't dance around each other."   
  
I gaped at her, "So then, you mean, yes or no?"   
  
"Ron do you like me in that way?" She asked keeping herself detached.   
  
"Christ, I don't know," I said feeling very stupid. I hadn't decided that yet.   
  
"When you do know, then come back and ask me that question," She said calmly. I nodded slowly turning to leave, but stopping before I got to the door,   
  
"Hermione,"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"I'm sorry about accusing you of, well, everything, your not a, erm, slut, you looked, uh, look nice," I mumbled feeling dumb, before walking out briskly, and shutting the door behind me.  
  
God I'm so confused. 


	11. Harry and Ginny's opinnion

Disclaimer: I'm sure you all know this already, but just incase, I own nothing.  
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"Ron do you like me in that way?" Because of how detached I was acting, it seemed easier to ask stuff like that, almost as if I can imagine he's not here.   
  
"Christ, I don't know," He said in this incredibly strained voice. I felt bad for him, but wouldn't let it show, you just can't do that, you can't just let people like Ron male you feel bad, otherwise... Well, I'd be his.   
  
But sometimes I think, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.   
  
"When you do know, then come back and ask me that question," I said still detached. He nodded his eyes lingering on me an extra second before he turned to leave, he was halfway to the door when he turned,   
  
"Hermione,"   
  
"Yeah," I asked. He caught me off guard, I hadn't expected him to say anything more.   
  
"I'm sorry about accusing you of, well, everything, your not a, erm, slut, you looked, uh, look nice," He mumbled in this rushed way. Why does he do that? The second I let my guard down he turns into this sweet mumbling... Attractive, gentleman, you know, the kind that girls always dream of finding but only really seem to find in muggle movies and books.   
  
By the time I had mopped myself up off the ground (when he had said it I had practically melted) He was gone and even worse then that, I suddenly really wanted him to come back.   
  
Am I really that pathetic, that I need a guy to tell me I look pretty to feel happy with myself?   
  
I was only sitting in there for about five minutes feeling entirely pathetic and at the same time somehow almost happy, when Ginny came in to talk to me.   
  
"He really does love you, you know," Was the first thing she said, as she was stepping inside.   
  
"Well, hi to you too Ginny," I murmured sarcastically.   
  
"He says that you told him he couldn't... dance?" She asked confusedly. I thought for a second before shaking my head and rolling my eyes.   
  
"I said, We couldn't dance around each other," I explained.   
  
"Which, I guess is why he said something about you making him decide whether he liked you or something?"   
  
"Something like that," I muttered laying back on my bed sighing loudly.   
  
"He does you know,"   
  
"If he did, don't you think he'd ask me without being bribed?" I asked realizing how afraid I was that, that was proof he didn't like me.   
  
"You know how Ron is. When he really likes something, he tries to stay away from it. Like that broom, the one he really wanted, but knew he couldn't afford? He avoided going to the broom shop because he didn't want to disappoint himself," Ginny explained.   
  
"So your saying he thought he couldn't AFFORD me so he avoided me-"   
  
"Until Harry offered to pay," Ginny said nodding and grinning as if I'd finally realized something I'd been trying to understand for ages.   
  
It's kind of sick when you think about it, Harry offered to pay for me. But I knew that's not really what Ginny meant. She was saying he didn't think he was GOOD enough for me, so he wouldn't ask until Harry forced him to.   
  
Him not good enough for ME. Ronald Weasley, who has been asked out by most every girl in our year, minus a few Slytherins, this year and several in the year bellow. The same Ron, who is not only sweet and funny, but quite attractive too.   
  
I was thinking about this when I noticed that the door had closed, Ginny had left and I was left to wonder what was happening to me.   
  
Did I like him? Did he like me? Could we ever possibly be anything? Even with all our fighting? Did I even want to consider it?   
  
I thought about all the questions and all the possible answers before I finally thought I had a solution.   
  
"Harry," I started walking into the Gryffindor common room, he was sitting talking to Ginny, "Um, sorry, but can I talk to you Harry?" He gave Ginny a little apologetic glance and followed me into the Girl's Dormitory.   
  
"What is it?" He asked.   
  
"What do you think I should do about Ron?" I asked his face broke into a grin.   
  
"Do you love him?" He asked.   
  
"God Harry, I'm fifteen," Hermione groaned.   
  
"God Harry, I like the sound of that," He joked, "Fine then, do you LIKE him?" Hermione shrugged.   
  
"I dunno, sometimes I think so," I mumbled my face getting all red.   
  
"He loves you, I'm sure Gin' already told you that," I nodded affirmation. "Do you believe her?"   
  
I considered. There did seem to be a lot of evidence pointing in that direction.   
  
"That's what you're here for, I need you to make me know. You're both of our best friend, you should know better then anyone whether you think we should be together," I explained to him.   
  
"You want me to tell you that you two are perfect for each other?" He asked grinning widely.   
  
"Well, if we are,"   
  
"Hermione, he's practically addicted to you, totally whipped, I think if you two don't get together soon, it'll get pretty sad on his part... And pretty cold on yours... your perfect for each other."   
  
I sighed.   
  
"Alright then,"   
  
"What are you going to do?"   
  
"I don't know, do I get a bribe?" Hermione asked giving him a accusing look. He looked sheepish.   
  
"I just wanted him to stop stressing about asking you and get it over with," He explained.   
  
"Thanks Harry," I whispered hugging him. 


	12. Did I ever tell you how much I love vale...

Disclaimer: I'm sure you all know this already, but just incase, I own nothing.  
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This time I was absolutely sure I had blown it. I mean seriously, all the other times I could just be like "Harry thinks I like you, but that's really stupid, right?" and then let her tell me whether it's stupid or not. You know? Like I could turn the tables, make her tell me whether we are... infatuated with each other. But this time... She turned the tables on me... And now what the bloody hell am I supposed to do? I can't say:   
  
"No Mione, I don't like you like that at all, and this stupid feeling in the pit of my stomach is just too many sweets." Because, well, then maybe she'd think I really didn't like her, and I'm not sure if I want her to think that, I mean, maybe I want her to know, that I think I may kinda like her.   
  
But I definitely can't say:   
  
"Yeah, I think I fancy you," Because, I mean, what if she doesn't fancy me... or worse, what if she does? I mean for God sakes, I may get asked out a lot but I'm not the type that's had loads of, erm, practice, with kissing and stuff, and she went out with Viktor Krum, and the guys like almost nineteen now, he must have known how to, and what if she tries to kiss me?  
  
What will I do? Or even worse, what if she wants me to kiss her? I can just see it, we both close our eyes I lean in and end up poking her eye out with my nose or something. Bloody hell.   
  
I had pretty much decided to fake sick tomorrow morning and avoid Hermione the rest of the term, or at least until the end of the term, when the door opened. No knock or anything.   
  
And she was standing right there.   
  
Damn.   
  
"Uh, hi," She said nervously.   
  
"Uh, hi," I replied. Oh brilliant Ron REALLY.   
  
"Um, I was thinking, and I don't think it's fair, I mean, how I sprung that question on you," Damn right it's not, "Not that how you sprung it on me was, but, I figure, if I couldn't give you a straight answer, you probably can't give me one either."   
  
"Uh ok," I said pathetically but seriously, what else was there to say?   
  
"So, I just figured instead of telling you straight out, I would just explain, some... stuff." I could tell she was nervous because she was going into teacher form.   
  
"Alright," I answered in Bored Student Form.   
  
"Last year, when I told you to ask me out first next time and not as a last resort," Her cheeks turned slightly pink, "Um, well, I guess I just wanted you to ask me, because I wanted to go with you, and so... yeah, there wasn't any hidden message or anything, I just wanted to, uh, go with you."   
  
"Why?" I couldn't help but blurt out. I could tell this hadn't been part of her rehearsed speech, and I kinda felt bad about springing it on her, but it just popped out.   
  
"I thought it would be fun to go as frien-"   
  
"When you told me to ask you, did you mean as friends?" I broke in. God I can be annoying sometimes! I mean seriously, I could see how she was shifting her weight nervously, but I just couldn't stop!   
  
"Uh, I-I don't know," She stuttered. We were both quiet for a while. "Look, Ron, the point I'm trying to get across is, uh," She let out this long breath, "I think I um... Like you more then I liked Viktor, and we went out... a little.." She said glancing up to me nervously.   
  
"Well, I'd hope you'd like me more then him," I scoffed. She clenched her teeth irritatedly.   
  
"That's not what I meant," She hissed. "I meant, I like you more, in THAT way then I did Viktor," She looked incredibly ill. I wanted to say something, I really did but I was frozen. Was she saying she fancied me?   
  
I hadn't expected that.   
  
She got up.   
  
"Look, never mind," She said quietly before getting up and walking quickly out of the dormitory, still in those red robes, she shut the door hard, I guess that's when I finally realized that I was still sitting on my bloody arse.   
  
I glared at the door wondering what the hell to do. It sounded like she... was smitten with me. Which would be great, except that I've never kissed a girl, EVER.   
  
I sat there for about five minutes before the door opened and Harry and Ginny poured in.   
  
"What happened?" Harry asked exasperatedly.   
  
"I sort of froze," I mumbled. "What did she tell you?"   
  
"Nothing, she just ran to her dorm... crying, and wouldn't let us in." Ginny said softly.   
  
Crying.   
  
"I didn't mean to.. but.." They both stared at me as f hanging on what I was about to say. "Uh, Ginny, could you give us a second?" I asked in a high voice. She made a high-pitched indignant sound coupled with a look, but left. I mean seriously, like I'm going to let my baby sister know that she's had more kissing experience then I have, well at least I'm assuming she has considering how flushed she'd looked when I'd went back down to the ball.   
  
"What?" Harry asked. I swallowed hard glancing around me nervously.   
  
"I-I've never actually.. You know," I stared at Harry desperately, but he just looked blank, "kissed anyone before," I said in an undertone.   
  
I could tell he was trying not to smile.   
  
"Well, you're not practicing on me if that's what you're aiming for," He said with one eyebrow raised.   
  
"Harry, seriously," I hissed.   
  
"It's not hard, just go for it," Harry muttered looking slightly uncomfortable.   
  
"Well, what do I do with my arms, and how do I know when to pull back?" I asked in a hoarse whisper.   
  
"Well, you can hold her face in your hands," Harry suggested also dropping to a whisper, "Or around her waist. And I don't know, when you know, I guess you just... do..."   
  
I really didn't find that very encouraging. I mean, what a lot of people just "know" I tend to NOT know. And suppose I didn't have some built in kiss-length-detector, I could end up suffocating her!   
  
"You know you don't have to kiss her right off, you could just tell her that you fancy her too, I think that would be sufficient, I think she's pretty embarrassed right now."   
  
I knew I had to. It was either that or avoiding my best friend for the next two and a half years until we graduated.   
  
It took me a long time to even knock on her door. I mean, I stood there for about a half hour it seemed. It was around ten-thirty or so when I finally knocked. No one answered the door.   
  
"Hermione?" I called nervously. Still no answer.   
  
"Uh, I need to tell you something. I mean, I guess I could yell it to you form out here, but face to face would be preferable." Still nothing. "I could start shouting embarrassing stories about you."   
  
The door opened.   
  
She had red eyes. It made me feel guilty, I had caused her to cry.   
  
"Look, before you start, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you, I mean, we're friends and friends just don't fancy each other and I ruined everything and-"   
  
"And I feel the same way," I broke in. She stopped with a odd look on her face.   
  
"You feel the same as in, you think I was stupid and shouldn't have said anything, or you feel the same as in... Well.. you know...?"   
  
"Uh, the second," I mumbled. She looked at me wide-eyed.   
  
"Are you sure?" She blurted out. And then shook her head, "I mean your not just saying that to be nice?" Her voice was so different then I'd ever heard it before, not strong, and confident, but vulnerable.   
  
"I think I'm sure, I mean..." I gulped, "When I'm around you, I get this... feeling, tingly, in my stomach, and um, daydreams..." I trailed off embarrassedly. I hadn't meant to say the daydreams bit.   
  
"What are they about... Your daydreams, I mean?" She asked in an almost innocent way.   
  
I could feel my face heating up.   
  
"Christ." I murmured, "Uh, mostly, being with you..." I stared up at the ceiling and added softly, "Kissing you..." It seemed like it got real quiet for about an hour, which was really probably just a few seconds. I chanced glancing down at her to see her lick her top lip. I swallowed.  
  
Why the hell had I added the kissing part? Now she was probably waiting for me to kiss her! And I couldn't just do that, not yet! I mean, I wanted to, but I didn't want to suffocate her either, especially not now that she actually liked me!   
  
I needn't have worried though, because while I was cursing myself, creatively and vulgarly in my head, she snaked her hand around the back of my neck and stood on tiptoe, pulling my head down slightly. And then she whispered in this slightly cautious voice:  
  
"Do you want to make your daydreams come true?"  
  
And our lips just touched and it was like an electric shock, but not the kind that hurt, the kind that surprisingly feel good and are nice, and then we just sort of pulled back at the same time.   
  
Did I ever mention how much I love Valentine balls?  
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"You feel the same as in, you think I was stupid and shouldn't have said anything, or you feel the same as in... Well.. you know...?" That's what I really said. He just sort of looked at me and then went all pink.   
  
"Uh, the second," He murmured. He fancies me?  
  
"Are you sure?" It came out before I could even think about what I was saying. I blushed. "I mean, your not just saying that to be nice?" I elaborated embarrassedly. I was practically trembling a bit with excitement, but more with fear, nervousness, what if he didn't like me? What if he was just being nice?   
  
"I think I'm sure, I mean..." He swallowed, "When I'm around you, I get this... feeling, tingly, in my stomach," I knew the feeling he was talking about, I had gotten the same one several times before. I felt my lips tug into a little grin and then he surprised me, "And, um daydreams..." He trailed off staring at the ceiling, his face a vibrant red.  
  
"What are they about... Your daydreams, I mean?" I heard my voice say in this coy way. I couldn't believe I had said it. Maybe I had dreamed it, maybe he hadn't even said the daydream bit and maybe I hadn't asked, maybe I had dreamed the whole thing-  
  
"Christ." He hissed, and I knew, I wasn't dreaming, "Uh, mostly, being with you..." He said and his eyes went back to the ceiling again "...Kissing you...." I gaped at him. Kissing me? He dreamed about kissing me? I looked up at him wondering if he was dreaming of kissing me right now. He looked nervous, in a sweet way really, before I knew what was happening my hand went up around his neck and I was up on my tiptoes pulling his head towards mine. He stared at me questioningly as if he had no idea what to do, I had no idea what to do. See, I've never really kissed, or been kissed, before. Not even when I dated Viktor, I always kind of ducked out of it and now here I was, my body obviously was not connected to my brain but to someone else's like Lavender's or Parvati's.   
  
"Uh, do you want to make your daydreams come true?" I don't know why I had asked it. I mean, now that I think about it he may have thought that I was trying to be sexy or something, but in reality, I was really just asking him if we should kiss or not, because I really had no idea, how to, or when to, or anything.   
  
And then, as if on cue, or heads just sort of magnetically connected and his lips pressed softly against mine and it was like... electricity. Like a shock, except it didn't hurt, it felt good, it felt right. And then he just pulled back and smiled at me, in that lopsided way that he does when he's too happy for words.   
  
And then I suddenly realized that maybe that was the worst kiss he's ever had and maybe that wasn't his Too-Happy-For-Words smile, maybe it was his Trying-Not-To-Laugh smile.   
  
"Uh, was that, ok? I mean, it was my first kiss..." I mumbled nervously, my eyes shooting downwards.   
  
"That was your first kiss?" He asked.   
  
"Yeah," I said meekly.   
  
"It was perfect," he said in that low voice that he uses when he's serious. I chanced glancing up at him, my face, I could tell, was pink. He leaned in, or rather, we leaned together, and it happened again, except he held a little longer this time, and it was even nicer. I figured he had probably had loads of practice to make it like that and before I knew what had happened, my voice asked:   
  
"How many times have you kissed girls?" I really can't believe I asked that. I mean seriously! How daft can you be? Our eyes were locked and I wished very much that I had just shut up.   
  
"That was my second time," He said slowly.   
  
And I realized, we'd kissed twice.   
  
Did I ever mention how happy I was when I heard they were having a valentine ball?   
~Fin  
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Ah yes, finally finished. This was a LONG chapter! Goodness, well I'm hoping to write more fluff R/H fics for those of you who enjoy them, so keep checking back!   
  
Cheers! 


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